Response for project 199506325: Ykfp - Monitoring And Evaluation
Comment on proposed FY 2006 budget
The M&E projected is implemented through contracts with the Yakama Nation and Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife. Theses comments only address the YN portion of the M&E budget, which is $2,789,077. The FY06 budget is consistent with Bonneville's 2005 budget. However, we believe a 6% increase is warranted. The project needs to maintain operational capability to successfully perform required work and also maintain salaries that are competitive with other F&W agencies. Over the past 2-3 years the project has lost several key personnel, partially due to salary levels. Gas prices have nearly doubled from FY05 levels, and concurrently expenses for supplies, materials, travel, etc. have increased due to these increases in energy prices. Therefore, the FY06 budget should be increased to $2,956,422. We anticipate that WDFW will provide separate comments for their portion of the project budget.
Accomplishments since the last review
| Produce Annual Report | Produce YKFP M&E annual report | |
| Produce Status Report | Produce interim project status reports for YKFP M&E contract. | |
| Produce/Submit Scientific Findings Report | Produce technical publications as data become ripe. | |
| Install Fish Trap/Monitoring Weir | Install Cowiche Dam adult field trap, deploy screw traps in the Naches River. | |
| Develop RM&E Methods and Designs | Assist in development of fall chinook master plan. | |
| Collect/Generate/Validate Field and Lab Data | Operation of Chandler, Prosser Denil, and Roza juvenile and adult monitoring facilities, spawning grounds surveys, radio telemetry work, scale collection and analysis, DNA collection and analysis, field sampling, etc. | |
| Mark/Tag Animals | PIT tag 40,000 spring chinook, 30,000 coho, and 15,000 fall chinook. Radio tag 100 adult coho and 25 fall chinook. Mass mark with adipose clip, elastomer eye tag, and/or CWT tags up to 810,000 spring chinook, up to 1 million coho, and 350,000 fall chin. | |
| Submit/Acquire Data | Submit PIT tags and CWT tags for both tagged fish and adult detections to regional PTAGIS and RMIS databases. Submit Yakima Basin M&E parameter metrics to CSMEP database. | |
| Manage/Maintain Database | Manage and maintain databases for all spring chinook, fall chinook, and coho life history data captured by the project. | |
| Disseminate Raw & Summary Data | Supply spring chinook, fall chinook, and coho data to other entities as requested either by email or via data that is posted regularly to the ykfp.org web site. | |
| Analyze/Interpret Data | Analyze data for annual reports and publications (as data become ripe). |
The Yakama Nation has continued to effectively implement the experimental design for the the Cle Elum Supplementation and Research Facility based on adaptive management principles in the preceding fiscal years. Monitoring and Evaluation activities have examined numerous parameters of natural production, harvest, genetics and ecological interactions related to supplementation subsequent to the last provincial review process. Past accomplishments for the Spring Chinook, Fall Chinook, and Coho components of the M&E project are summarized in paragraphs on pp 37-38 of the Yakima Subbasin Supplement, Nov. 26, 2004. Detailed reports of the results of the M&E activites are included in the YKFP Monitoring and Evaluation Project Annual Reports for 2002 to present. The Project Annual Reports can be found at 1) http://www.efw.bpa.gov/Publications/P00005881-2.pdf (2002) 2) http://www.efw.bpa.gov/Publications/P00013769-1.pdf (2003-2004) Abstracts of presentations addressing 2003 and 2004 M&E work can be found at http://www.ykfp.org/par.html.
FY 2006 goals and anticipated accomplishments
The Yakama Nation’s principal goal is to continue monitoring and evaluation activities consistent with the CESRF experimental design and to support adaptive management of supplementation and research in the Yakima Subbasin. The Vision for the Yakima Subbasin is identified on page 3 of the Subbasin Management Plan Supplement. M&E will be continued toward realizing the Vision and achievement of the Biological Objectives, identified in section 3.1 on p. 15 of the supplement. Performance metrics identified in the past accomplishments comments above will also be applied in FY 2006.
Subbasin planning
How is this project consistent with subbasin plans?
Please refer to Tables 7-22 on pp. 25-35 of the Subbasin Supplement. Please refer to Tables 7-22 on pp. 25-35 of the Subbasin Supplement. The tables identify strategies for addressing limiting factors in terms of habitat, population performance and response, and institutional capacity. M&E activities are essential to implementation of many of the strategies, and in fact informed the development of some of the strategies. The M&E project activities are integral to habitat and population performance and response strategies, and are wholly consistent with the subbasin plan. See also section 3.3.4 Research at p. 40 of the supplement which addresses the relationship of research activities to institutional capacity in the basin.
How do goals match subbasin plan priorities?
The strategies listed in Tables 7-22 on pp. 25-35 of the Subbasin Supplement address key limiting factors in the Yakima Subbasin. The inclusion of each strategy reflects the participating planners’ determination that the strategy should be pursued. As noted, the M&E activities are integral to the effective implementation of many of the strategies, particularly with regard to population performance and response, and must be characterized as high priority activities for purposes of the FY 2006 budget development, as well as for development of budgets in the out years.
Other comments
YKFP M&E #1995-063-25 is linked with YKFP Upper and Lower O&M, project #1997-013-25 and also, Management, Data and Habitat, project #1988-120-25.